The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-07-23


that vital point. So he came to full
stop. There was no use pursuing the |
theme further. To marry her was to
go against his own fixed principles, and
this precluded marital happiness fof |
him.
Like the wise man which he had al |
ways given himself credit for being; |
he resolved to fenounce the Inflated |
passion, and, oddly enough, he en-
deavored to seek favor in my eyes by |
telling me so. But l knew the disease
too well to make any mistake concern
ing it, and | predicted from the mo-
ment he gave her up he would begin
to love her more fiercely than ever.
Matters stood thus when she fell i'll,
and then all his resolutions and mar
riage laws went flying to the winds.
His anxiety excluded every thing but
the sickening dread that she might
die. For a time her life certainly did
hang upon a thread.
One lovely morning during her con-
valeseence he took her for ride. 1t
was the first time she had been permit
ted to leave her room, and it was with
many instructions for her care and
safety that he was finally permitted to
drive her away.
"Where shall we go? he inquired of
the white figure muffled to the chin in
shawls.
ITO the country" she replied,
"where there are woods and farms,
and where we can get some milk and
wild flowers.
II am not going TO permit you
to wear yourself out by tramp
ing through the woods, my young
lady so make up your mind to it, he
returned, firmly. II don't object to
the farm and the milk, but | veto the
flowers.
So resolved, he drove out of the little
town, selecting the smoothest roads,
and neglecting not the slightest oppor-
tunity to administer to her comfort.
(And now comes the question how l
know all this, sitting upon the piazza
of the Ocean Beach Hotel, straining my
ears to hear what Mrs. Burroughs is
saving about her maids lover almost
soaring her to death the night before.
The answer is simple. had it direct
from Miss Pcnhyrn's delightfully."- To-
quacious old grandma.)
That's pretty snug farm in yon-
der, don't you think?' he asked, after
a long pause.
II came especially to get wild
flowers" pouted the invalid, land if
| can't get what | want | would rather
90 home" Whereupon the inexora-
BILE Mr.. Brand turned directly into the
woods, and assisting her to alight set
off by her side in quest of the flowers
she coveted. But her strength didn't
equal her perversity. She had taken only
few PAGES when she staggered and
would have fallen, had not her watch
full companion caught her in his arms.
at was my slipper" she gasped,
when she could get her breath; sit
tripped me- See" she held out a tiny,
shoeless foot. Mr.. Brand stopped and
picked up the slipper, and in the act of
readjusting it espied the neatest,
trimmest and most ravishing of darns
in the toe of the pretty stocking!
Upon how small hinge hangs our
destiny! The discovery of that darn
produced tumult of remorse in his
heart. He had unjustly condemned
her ; she was not untidy. She was not
helpless. She was housewife. Who
but one could effect a darn like that.
She was not void of talent. On the
contrary, she was the most gifted of
women. Nothing less than an artist
could produce such handiwork. She
did possess charm without ostentation;
for when had she ever boosted of her
ingenuity Neither was she vain for
vanity could not have kept silent To
crown all, she was deep, insomuch
that she knew how to keep her own
counsel.
She was the paragon! the ideal All
of which flashed through his mind in
the space of a single minute. In the
next he had asked her to be his wife.
|
The wedding was celebrated the fol
lowing winter at her home in New
York When it was over, and they
were alone together in the carriag'
which whirled them over the streets
toward the ferry, he said:
''Do you want to hear secret, Mrs
Brandt"
"a secret?"
"Yes, secret! but one you mus
! promise never to divulge."
"Of course do. Tell me. :"
"Do you want to know how it wa
that came to ask you to marry me tina
day in the woods, when you slipped
and fell straight into my arms?'
"Oh, yes"
"Well, it was all on account of tn
darn that l saw in the toe of you
stocking"
Really"
Really"
"Then l must write and tell her a
once"
: "Tell who?"
"Grandmamma.
, "What has she to do with it?'
"She darned it"-Litlidn Spencer
, IN Pittsburgh Bulletin.